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FC Barcelona, an iconic club that once dominated world football with the way they played and the talent at their disposal, are now in transition. Crippling debt incurred due to uncontrolled spending has dragged the the club down in the past few years.
Big money moves for players like Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembele and Antoine Griezmann didn't work out and the club is now left rebuilding. When facing adversity we tend to look outside for help, but often the solution lies within. And Barcelona seem to once again have found answers to their recent miseries within their academy, La Masia.
Barcelona have made three major managerial changes in under two years. The club has a debt of over €1 billion and financial constraints meant they had to let Leo Messi go. They fought with La Liga over a salary cap, they were knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages and had to enter the Europa League for the first time in 17 years. Amidst the downward spiral, the youngsters from La Masia have been the Blaugrana's silver lining this season.
The academy that produced icons like Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, Lionel Messi, Pep Guardiola, and countless other legends, La Masia has yet again proven to be at the base of what seems to be a rebuilding phase at the club.
The team is still far from what it has to achieve in terms of quality and goals, but with Xavi at the helm and some talented young players at his disposal, there is still hope the club can turn this season around.
Nevertheless, these are the top five young academy graduates making a difference in the first team this season.
#5 Eric Garcia
"I would love to have 15 Eric Garcias for the way he conducts his behavior. He is always thinking of the team. He's always a good face in good or bad moments," were the words Pep Guardiola chose to describe the Spanish international when he moved to the Catalonian giants in 2021.
Since then, the 21-year-old centre-back has started half the games for Spain at Euro 2020, won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 while being a regular starter, and has made his Barcelona debut.
After pursuing Garcia for quite a few months, Barca finally landed his services during the summer transfer window of 2021, when he arrived from Manchester City alongside Sergio Aguero.
He was at La Masia for nine years before leaving for Manchester City's youth academy in 2017. A year later, Garcia quickly became a first-team centre-back in Guardiola's side. After making 35 appearances in three seasons for City, the Spaniard rejected an extension and let his contract expire before returning to Barcelona on a free transfer.
Blessed with an impeccable passing range, the ability to build from the back and excellent leadership skills, Garcia is a Blaugrana through and through. With current first-choice defender Gerard Pique (also a La Masia graduate) turning 35, Garcia certainly looks set to step up and take on the role from him in the coming years. He has already made 20 appearances across competitions for the Blaugrana this season.
#4 Nico Gonzalez
After impressing Koeman during pre-season, Gonzalez seems to have turned a lot of heads and is tipped to take over the pivotal midfield role from Sergio Busquets. Having played multiple positions, even on the right-wing at times, Nico has shown immense potential to grow and be a part of the midfield for years to come.
Former Barcelona B manager Garcia Pimienta has gone on record to say that Gonzales could become a Barca great. "Nico is a player who can mark an era. If everything goes to plan, he is going to be the heir to Busquets," he had said.
Having just turned 20 last month, Gonzalez joined La Masia at the tender age of 11. Akin to the rest of his academy counterparts, he possesses terrific passing skills accompanied by a brilliant sense of positioning. His ability to carry the ball and dribble past with his pace is what sets him apart from the rest.
Whilst Busquets has been the first choice pivot for Koeman and Xavi, Gonzalez has occupied the role of a traditional box-to-box midfielder and has had an immediate impact in the games he's been a part of. He's already made 26 appearances for Barca in all competitions this season.
#3 Gavi
Seventeen-year-old Gavi has become a regular starter for the first team this season. We witnessed something similar last season with Pedri, who played a staggering 37 out of 38 league games and started all of Spain's matches in the Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics.
Pedri's explosive evolution led to him winning the Golden Boy and the Kopa trophy in 2021. In Gavi, Barcelona could have in their hands a player who could go on to replicate those achievements. Hailing from southern Spain, he played for the Real Betis academy before joining La Masia at the age of 11.
His major breakthrough came when he played against Italy in the Nations Cup semi-final. Gavi took up Pedri's place in midfield, becoming the youngest player ever to play for Spain that day.
Gavi has all the qualities of a perfect La Masia product - passing, dribbling, vision, breaking the lines, you name it, and this boy has got it. Unlike the rest of his counterparts, Gavi is fiesty and goes that extra distance to win the ball. He is extremely press resistant and possesses good off-the-ball movement despite his tender age.
Like Gonzalez, Gavi has been deployed in multiple positions this season. Since the injuries of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, he has become indisputable under Xavi, making 26 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions.
#2 Ronald Araujo
Ronald Araujo has caught the eye of several big European clubs with his impressive performances for Barcelona this season. For years Barcelona has seemed to lack defensive solidarity. With Samuel Umtiti's injury woes, Clement Lenglet's inconsistency and Pique's age, the club has needed a commanding presence in the defense.
Having played top-flight football in the Uruguayan first division, Araujo arrived at Barcelona B in 2018. He was handed his first team debut in 2019 under Ernesto Valverde, but only seemed to break through under Quique Setien and further solidify his place under Ronald Koeman.
Since his debut, he has won the Copa del Rey with Barcelona, playing a significant role in the club's success during the competition.
Ronald Araujo and is an imposing presence on both sides of the pitch during set-pieces. He is not afraid to make hard challenges and even when playing higher up the pitch, doesn't hesitate to cover the ground and track back.
While he doesn't possess line-breaking passing ability from the back like the rest of the Barca defenders, he does have the ability to dominate physically.
The 22-year-old Uruguayan has made 25 appearances for Barcelona across competitions this season and has also managed to score three goals.
#1 Ansu Fati
The past two years have seen Ansu Fati's meteoric rise into the first team. The 19-year-old winger rose to prominence during the 2019-20 season when Ernesto Valverde subbed him on in a 5-2 win over Real Betis. In the forthcoming weeks, injuries to Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele led to Fati sealing a spot in the starting XI for Barcelona. He became the youngest goalscorer for Barcelona at the age of 16.
Breaking numerous records along the way, Fati became a household name in Barcelona and remarkably signed a contract with the first team next season.
Fati was just ten years old when he joined the academy and started playing for the youth teams, it only took him six years to reach the top and one could only imagine what lies ahead of him. Ansu Fati has predator-like instincts and seems to bag a goal every time he wants one. His best quality is his ability to score from half-chances.
Having played on the left wing ever since his debut, Fati is a natural dribbler and uses clever off-the-ball movements to stir things up. Despite not being one of the quickest players, Fati can change direction quickly and loves cutting inside.
In the youth teams, Ansu often played as a striker and in his first start for Spain against Ukraine in the Nations League, he did play a part of the game as a No. 9. He is immensely confident and rarely makes mistakes and. He was one of the few players with whom Messi trusted the ball. Fati is a natural goalscorer and it's on Xavi to utilize his abilities in the best way.
Fati's time in the first team has been hindered by serious injuries. In November 2020, he suffered a meniscal tear in his left knee, which sidelined him for the rest of the season. He also missed the Euros and the Tokyo Olympics.
Fati returned in September 2021 and scored a goal in just under 10 minutes against Levante in La Liga. Unfortunately, Fati has since suffered successive hamstring injuries that have restricted him to the sidelines. In his 10 appearances for Blaugrana across competitions this season, Fati has scored five goals. He is expected to return by the end of March 2022.
After inheriting the No 10 from Messi, Ansu Fati has become a key player in the squad and the club look determined to build around him. The faith Barca has shown in him is immense, and along with Pedri, he has already signed a contract that extends to 2027 and includes a buyout clause of €1 billion.
